Students travel internationally

Pierce College Puyallup is home to many students who have made it a mission to travel.

Josh Walters is a Running Start student whose family owns a house in Nayarit, Mexico.

“I’ve been there a few times but not recently because of money,” Walters said.

The last time Walters visited Mexico was so he and his family could work on fixing up their home.

He explained how he spent his days painting the house and fixing up the windows. It was a big project for the Walters family. He described Mexico as a communal and happy environment.

His family made friends with another family who owned a hotel. He excitedly described how they’d let his family stay in their hotel for free while they fixed up their home.

One of the more exciting adventures is the outstanding beach just an hour from his home.

“It’s not like the beaches here in Washington, they have warm water and pure sand,” Walters said. “There were even these holes in the sands from the clams breathing.”

He describes the cultural differences compared to Washington.

“There’s the obvious language barriers,” Walters said.

He later said most people in Mexico can speak English. It’s more like living a carefree lifestyle in contrast to Washington.

“I would never visit the city, I prefer the country area,” Walters said. “I would definitely recommend that others visit Mexico.”

Nicholas Holzer, also a Running Start student at Pierce College, visited Costa Rica as a part of a school program.

“It was a school trip at my private school, and I was selected to be one of the 12 students to go,” Holzer said.

Holzer went on this trip for one week, and during this time, they did community service events such as repainting the wall of a children’s school and helping donate books. Along with these acts of kindness, Holzer said one of his favorite parts of the trip was exploring the Costa Rican environment and walking through its rainforests.

“The rainforests were filled with interesting animals, spiders, big ants, lizards that run on water,” Holzer said. “I also saw a sloth, which is quicker at night.”

Holzer laughs at the last one saying that he liked to call them Jesus lizards.

Campfires were another great memory from his trip. While around the fire, everyone bonded as their adventures came to an end.

“I liked seeing the capital city at night for the first time,” Holzer said, describing it as a striking experience. “The whole thing was a really cool.”

Holzer said that he recommends others take the chance to visit Costa Rica in their lifetime.

Chiwon Kang is a student at Pierce College Puyallup who traveled to South Korea in 2011 for business matters. He made the most of the opportunity he was given.

“I was born there, but I went back to South Korea for work,” Kang said. “I usually traveled to big cities like Seoul and Busan, because I heard that there are a lot of things to do.”

Kang was set out for an adventure. Some of his favorite things to do were to experiment with different restaurants and try new foods.

“There are lots of fun places to go like karaoke bars and amusement parks,” Kang said. “Many places stay open past 4 a.m., and it’s very safe to walk around at night. People are generally nice too. It was a good experience overall.”

The urban area was ideal, but the weather was always experienced in extremes.

“But winter can be very cold and summer can be very hot,” Kang said.

Because Kang traveled to South Korea on a business trip, he was alone. However, he didn’t mind because he was in his home country making it a fulfilling experience.

“There is a huge cultural difference from language to manner,” Kang said. “The way people talk and interact with each other is different. It’s hard to explain, but being polite is very important in Korea especially when you talk to strangers or elderly.”

The Puyallup Post is the award-winning student news of Pierce College Puyallup in Puyallup, Washington. Copyright The Puyallup Post 2017. Twitter/Instagram @puyalluppost